Day 3: Chapel Hill!

We woke early - early for me, anyway - and left York by 7:30 AM. Equipped with our first gas station coffee of the day, Jared and I high-tailed it down into Virginia. Our first destination: Wawa, a convenience store found in the mid-Atlantic states. Although I’d never heard of the chain, Jared knew and praised it even before leaving Brooklyn. The chain inspires great loyalty, apparently, and while in DC, Berg mentioned that on his next trip through NYC he planned to get the company’s logo tattooed into his flesh to cement his bond to the dispenser of donuts and egg ciabatta melts for all time. We saw a sign on 95, took the exit, and got ourselves some more coffee to wash down bagels and cream cheese. Back in the car, we listed to Car Talk until the channel fizzled into static.

We made Chapel Hill, NC in about eight hours and when we arrived we set up shop in Alina and Josh’s house (thanks, Alina!). That’s when we met their guard cats. Neither Jared nor I have ever encountered such ferocity from felines. From the moment we entered the house until the following morning, the cats bared their fangs, hissed, and swiped at our legs from around corners. I thought for sure that after feeding them, they would be our friends, but although the cats tempered themselves while I doled out their food, immediately after their Fancy Feast meal they started in again with the hissing. The cats aren’t allowed in any of the house’s rooms (they apparently like to pee indiscriminately), and so while we slept in the closed off living room we heard them prowling like little cougars outside our door, mewing, mewing, mewing. This morning as we left, both cats sat and watched us with cold, triumphant eyes. It was a frosty farewell.

In other news, Chapel Hill’s great. In addition to the government liquor store that carried the biggest Whiskey selection we’d ever seen, and a small but essential music store (CD Alley), the town boasts great food. We met up with the Western Civ folks for a damn fine Southern dinner at Mama Dip’s: fried green tomatoes, hushpuppies, bbq, sweet tea, and local Carolina beer. For me and Jared, equally as important as playing great shows is great eats, and Jared brought along two books – Roadfood, and Eccentric America – to assist our pursuits.

Time to finish up… we’re nearing our destination of Charleston, SC. I’m writing this entry from our passenger seat command center in the Jeep, which we’ve equipped with a GPS, iPod, radar detector, and a power splitter for the cigarette lighter. My bro and gadget guru should be proud. Until our next entry… G